Feathered Friends Down Booties Review

October 31, 2013

I can’t think of a better feeling than taking my ski boots off after a long skin and slipping on a pair of Feathered Friends Down Booties. Like little mini sleeping bags for your feet down booties keep your toes toasty while you sit around camp on cold nights. I bring these booties along with me on every trip I take. If I want a camp shoe I bring both the down liner as well as the outer shell and sole. If I want an emergency insulation piece I bring along just the down liners (On most trips, even day trips, into the backcountry I bring along a full down outfit. A parka, pants, gloves and socks which I pair with an SOL Emergency Bivy in case I need to spend an unexpected night in the woods).

These specific down booties are very light weight and don’t have a lot of “features” – which is why I can justify bringing them along. They have all the things you want and none of the things you don’t. The things you want include a top drawstring to keep snow out and an ankle drawstring to keep them situated on your feet. My one complaint about these is that when you are wearing both the liner and the shell it is extreamly difficult to walk around on anything but flat ground. Because the shell and liner are not connected to each other your foot, inside the liner, slides all over the place making it nearly impossible to walk down a snow covered river bank to refill water. The upside to having the liner and shell in two pieces rather than a single unit is that you can remove the shell and get into your sleeping bag without having to expose your delicate toes to the cold. You can also then slip the shells on real quick and sneak out of your tent for a late night bathroom break without needing to find your frozen boots and struggle to pull those on.

Conclusion:

As long as you are aware that you will not be hiking in these and really just using them for around camp at night they are amazing.

Benjamin Bressler

I'm a wilderness enthusiast who likes to focus on maintaining a lightweight pack to maximize my outdoor experience. I hold to the mantra that the lighter the pack the further and faster you can travel, but, I wouldn't consider myself "ultralight". I appreciate gear that has been reduced down to its essential features to provide an elegant and comfortable solution that is simple to use and effective in achieving its purpose.